


in passing

by emily_420



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: M/M, mentions of muro-chin just because, very very very slight murakiyo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-27
Updated: 2014-01-27
Packaged: 2018-01-10 05:53:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1155909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emily_420/pseuds/emily_420
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Murasakibara runs into Kiyoshi’s family in Akita. —or how they became text buddies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	in passing

Murasakibara’s walking through town - be quiet, he does that sometimes - because it’s the first day in just about forever that hasn’t been so cold that you didn’t even wan’t to leave the house. His feet take him up to a large, sprawling park without any particular input from Atsushi himself, but considering it, he thinks, hey, why not - the sky is blue and he’s in a t-shirt and he’s able to enjoy the popsicle in his mouth. 

It’s as he’s walking along without paying any mind to where he’s going and not thinking of much other than how he can convince Muro-chin to help him with his English homework that he spots Kiyoshi sitting at a picnic table with an elderly couple. Only vaguely curious, he drifts over, left hand in his pocket while his right hand navigates the popsicle so that it doesn’t drip. 

They’re playing hanafuda, and Kiyoshi smiles serenely, says, “I win again.” The old folks with him are fondly exasperated. 

"What are you doing here?" Atsushi asks, sounding just as bored and lax as ever. 

Kiyoshi looks up at him, smile still firmly in place. “Having a picnic.”

"You came all the way to Akita for a picnic."

"Family holiday, then," Kiyoshi concedes. Atsushi wonders if he gets tired from being so radiantly happy all the time.

"I didn’t think it was possible, but did you get taller?" Kiyoshi asks, and, suddenly self-conscious, Atsushi just shrugs, mumbles, "Maybe a little." 

It’s true, though - he’s in his second year of high school and somehow still growing. At last measure - which wouldn’t have even happened if Muro-chin didn’t know how to play him like a fiddle - he was up to 213 centimeters. People could be as envious as they liked, but he didn’t enjoy being that big. He hit his head on doorways if he wasn’t careful, finding clothes and shoes was hard and he had to curl up to fit in his bed. Really, it was all sorts of inconvenient. 

"Would you like to play a game?" Kiyoshi asks, and Atsushi is simultaneously dubious and recalling everything Muro-chin had told him about the Saw movies, but the woman present clears his head for him. 

"I have brownies!" she says helpfully, pulling out a large box full from her handbag. (How did that fit in there? Does he want to even know? Women are mysterious.)

"…Maybe a little," he says again. Kiyoshi laughs, and Atsushi wonders what’s funny. 

.

Atsushi’s glad they weren’t betting. He’s also amazed by the brownies, but that’s another story. 

"Come to think of it," he says and Kiyoshi wins  _again_ and his grandparents just shake their heads hopelessly, “I didn’t see you this year.” And he knows for sure that Kiyoshi, of all people, wouldn’t give up basketball easily. 

"Ah," Kiyoshi says delicately, which should have been laughable but wasn’t at all given the small, sad smile on his face. "I have a bad knee. It was lucky that I was even able to play last year."

Atsushi  _hmms,_ licks off his fingers, and where most people would be all, oh, what a shame, poor you, are you ever going to be able to play again? Atsushi is merely a little surprised because he hadn’t known. 

"All because of that awful boy," Kiyoshi’s grandma is tutting, and Kiyoshi gives a placating "Grandma," but she seems very upset by it all. 

"It shouldn’t be allowed," she continues, shaking her head and seeming as if she has so much more that she’d like to say, but can’t figure out how to articulate it without cursing. 

"No, it shouldn’t," Kiyoshi agrees tiredly, and Atsushi thinks that they’ve had this conversation many times before, "but there’s nothing we can do about it now."

"Oh, I know, but I just wish…" she trails off, and her husband (they’ve both got gold bands around their fingers) puts a comforting arm around her shoulder, giving her a little shake. 

"We all do, Ma. Here, have some tea."

Where he procures a flask of tea from, Atsushi’s not sure. Maybe it’s a family of magicians. And as he sits sipping tea with the Kiyoshi family, he thinks that Kiyoshi is just as good as Muro-chin at getting him to do things he doesn’t really want to. 

.

When all’s said and done, Atsushi says to Kiyoshi’s grandma, “Can I have the recipe for the brownies?” and Kiyoshi pulls out his phone, smiling brightly.

-And Atsushi thinks that maybe Kiyoshi is the kind of person that he hates, but he’s really nice, in the end, and maybe that’s enough. 

**Author's Note:**

> aLRIGHT BUT YOU KNOW THAT KIYOSHI STARTS TEXTING IZUKI'S BAD JOKES TO HIM AFTER THIS
> 
> mukkun gets them in class and can't stop laughing
> 
> himuro whispers 'atsushi what's wrong' because he doesn't think he's ever really seen him smiling wwwwww
> 
> maybe one day i'll write a decent length fic for this fandom but that day's not today


End file.
